{"id":19138,"date":"2024-08-03T17:39:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-03T17:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=19138"},"modified":"2024-08-03T17:39:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-03T17:39:40","slug":"military-will-act-if-protests-escalate-cds-musa-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=19138","title":{"rendered":"Military Will Act if Protests Escalate, CDS Musa Warns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Christopher Musa has warned that the military will step in if the ongoing nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests continue to escalate violently.<\/p>\n<p>Musa&#8217;s comments follow reports of widespread vandalism and looting during the protests, particularly on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>In Kano, protesters looted and set fire to the newly constructed Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) Industrial Park, which was scheduled for commissioning next week.<\/p>\n<p>Witnesses reported seeing youths stealing desktop computers, chairs, keyboards, and other equipment from the facility.<\/p>\n<p>The protests, which have also turned violent in Yobe, Lagos, Borno, Gombe, and Abuja, have resulted in at least 14 reported deaths. The demonstrations, organized under the banner of &#8220;10 Days of Rage&#8221; and #EndBadGovernance, have drawn significant attention nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>At a press conference on Friday, Musa urged protesters to understand that destruction is counterproductive and would only hinder the country&#8217;s progress. &#8220;We should realize that these acts of destruction and the funds required to repair them are a setback to our nation&#8217;s development,&#8221; the CDS said.<\/p>\n<p>He stressed the importance of unity and called on all parties to work together to prevent further damage.<\/p>\n<p>Musa praised the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for its efforts to restore order but cautioned that the military would be compelled to intervene if the violence continues. &#8220;We want to warn those who refuse to listen that we will not stand by and watch our country be destroyed,&#8221; Musa stated. &#8220;We will take action, and it will be professional. Anyone caught will be prosecuted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The CDS also urged the media to reduce coverage of the protests, suggesting that some participants are seeking attention. &#8220;I noticed that all stations were focused on the protests yesterday. This is not an election, so don&#8217;t give them that coverage because some are just looking for screen time,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Musa called on Nigerians to be patient with the government, assuring that policies and actions are in place to alleviate economic hardships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Christopher Musa has warned that the military will step in if the ongoing nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests continue to escalate violently. Musa&#8217;s comments follow reports of widespread vandalism and looting during the protests, particularly on Thursday. In Kano, protesters looted and set fire to the newly constructed Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19140,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19138\/revisions\/19140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}